By GREG MOORE

The Natchez Democrat

SICILY ISLAND — Jaquan Wilson led his team with 22 points to help the Vidalia Vikings beat Madison Parish 64-61 in a Friday afternoon tournament game hosted by Sicily Island.

The Vikings lost to Madison Parish earlier in the year so Vidalia’s head basketball coach Robert Sanders said the team was familiar with the opponent.

“The last time we played them, we jumped out to a lead just like we did this game,” Sanders said. “The idea was to get them behind and hold on to the lead unlike last time.”

The Vikings came out strong offensively, mounting a 13-point lead to end the first quarter with a score of 21-8.

Both teams capitalized on scoring opportunities in the second quarter, with Madison Parish being able to cut Vidalia’s lead down to 7 points.

At the half, Vidalia was still up 32-25.

In the third quarter Madison Parish was able to consistently find answers to Vidalia scores but still trailed by 4 points going into the fourth quarter.

“In the second half we had easy shots when we did make them,” Sanders said. “We didn’t score as many points in the second half as we did in the first, so we were basically just trying to maintain.”

The fourth quarter began with a score of 44-40, and the game could have gone either way.

Madison Parish and Vidalia continued to trade scores but the Jaguars put Vidalia players on the free throw line multiple times while the quarter was winding down.

“We had a couple of fouls in positions that I didn’t want to foul and they made their free throws,” said John Holmes, Madison Parish head coach.

The Vikings shot just over 50 percent from the line in the fourth quarter, making 9 of 17.

The Jaguars were able to cut the lead to 2 points at one point in the fourth quarter but the points from free throws and other scores proved too much for Madison Parish to overcome.

Going forward Sanders identified two things that his team needed to improve upon.

“Basically our passes and bench strength, especially on the boards,” Sanders said.

DeMikal McCoy also contributed 14 points for the Vikings. Deondre Palmer led the Jaguars in scoring with 18 points.